On the gasification reactivity of Italian Sulcis coal

Some aspects of the gasification behaviour of raw and demineralized chars prepared from Italian Sulcis coal have been studied. The results obtained with demineralized chars showed that when the pyrolysis temperature is raised from 1123 to 1423 K a maximum decrease in reactivity (in CO₂) of a factor of four is observed. Regardless of the pyrolysis conditions and the presence or absence of mineral matter, no significant differences in the global energy of activation were observed. In spite of the presence of significant amounts of ion-exchanged calcium in the Sulcis coal, small reactivity differences were observed between raw and demineralized chars. This behaviour was ascribed to the high sulphur content of Sulcis coal, which is responsible for the formation of catalytically inactive CaS during the pyrolysis step.